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From 1st December 2014, landlords in the ‘pilot' areas, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall will need to check the immigration status of tenants, sub-tenants and lodgers, entering into new tenancies, who are aged over 18 and pay for their accommodation, to assess whether they have the right to rent in the UK. This means that they must have current leave to be in the UK.

The ‘pilot' is due to run for six months until May 2015, after which it will be evaluated by an Advisory Panel set up by the Home Office and a report will be published. If it is found that the scheme works well, a recommendation will be made for a national roll out and immigration checks will become compulsory for all landlords in the country.

However, this will only come into force if the ‘pilot’ is successful. Movement Against Xenophobia (MAX) is working with Shelter, the NUS, the Chartered Institute of Housing, Generation Rent, Coventry Law Centre (Birmingham branch) and other partners throughout the West Midlands to evaluate the scheme independently.

They need our help to ensure that we hear from tenants and landlords in the area who have experiences with the new scheme.

MAX have prepared two questionnaires one for Tenants/Lodgers and one for Landlords/Agents to complete. Your responses are vital to allow MAX to evaluate the impact of this scheme and prepare an independent report on it.